>>5311884"Let me explain for you Morty. What someone offers is all I can take… It isn't a simple thing. The Mind, that is. Nothing more than a big mess. Six layers of memories, thoughts and emotions. A persistent storm. The tidal ebb and flow. Old treasures resurface with time. Debris breaks open on the shore of your mind and finally you see." His hands fumble with the beret on his lap, fingers tapping the icon of his unit. "Now imagine the mind of someone linked to a Phobos, the new pathways forged. One's own mind or mine cannot comprehend. Beyond biology. Synthetic? Spiritual? Yet it is still there. The foreign complex structure. Those others as well. I know you wouldn't be shocked to know what the storm within can haul to the surface. Places, people or things that aren't your own. Are they all just driftwood? Or something else?"
Oracle twists in his seat, arm finding its way along the back of the sofa you shared. His eyes flicker over the duo in the corner, the words that come next are barely audible. Intended just for you. "Child killers, the pair of them. The scotch does nothing to hide the faces of those families they have cleansed. Dissidents from the highest city layers all the way down to those under tribes who have never glimpsed true sunlight. Nothing more than necessary purges." Despite your best effort you find yourself turning with him to watch those others present. From the corner of your eyes you peek, feinting chatting. "The Old man lost his son. His two children have both shown aptitude for Phobos synchronization. Perfect Latency feedback. He is paying a fortune to keep them out of the system, but can't afford both. He is already planning to abandon the girl."
The other pilot finally returns his gaze to you, the blind eyes full of rage and hatred. No pity or benevolence can be found. You found yourself a little less certain, you hadn't seen into their minds. But if it was the truth, then you understood why it would be so damning. "If only we were so lucky right? Would you still be in those mountains? Would I be in some Rostovok slum? Maybe I would have my eyes and you, your family?" The words were dark things, blooming in your mind like black flowers on the side of a vast and barred mountain. Against the snow, wind and rain you kept yourself. Grasping tightly with your roots onto the nothing. You contemplate letting go, giving in and just allowing yourself to be cast into the expanse. But then you thought of Haruki and then the others you had met along the way. Your friends. They might not be what you had lost, but they were yours in the end.
